2 slain men may have been using Grindr
Dating app has been linked to other, nonlethal attacks in the Dallas area
Two Houston men targeted by what police say could be serial killers may have been using Grindr, a dating app that has been linked to similar, nonlethal attacks in the Dallas area, Harris County investigators said Tuesday.
Family members first pointed detectives to the possible role of a dating app in the two slayings, bolstered by a lack of phone calls or text messages between the victims and suspects, said lead investigator Mike Ritchie with the Harris County Sheriff ’s Office. He said the killers may have used a fake profile to lure one or more of their victims.
“People have been using Grindr and other sites in other cities to lure people and assault or rob them,” Ritchie told the Chronicle on Tuesday.
In addition to a robbery motive, the killers may have been targeting Asian or gay men, investigators said. Both of the victims were Asian; their sexual orientations are not known.
Other victims possible
Glenser Soliman, a 44-year-old nurse manager at St. Luke’s Medical Center, was reported missing Feb. 16. His body was found Feb. 25 along a wooded trail in the Spring area a few miles from his home. He had been strangled and bludgeoned, according to court records.
His family held a memorial service in March. A mourner wrote in an online guestbook, “This world lost a kind, funny, thoughtful and generous human being.”
About a month later, a 26-year-old University of Houston student went missing.
An Vinh Nguyen was last seen March 31, but his body has not been recovered. Deputies say it’s likely he was killed, though his family holds out hope he will be found alive.
Ritchie said there could be other robbery victims who got away, though officials don’t know of any other deaths connected with the case.
Anyone with information can reach the Harris County Sheriff ’s Office homicide unit at 713-274-9226 or Crime Stoppers at 713222-TIPS. A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to charges or an arrest.
One man has already been charged in Soliman’s death. Brandon Alexander Lyons, 18, was charged Monday with capital murder and ordered held without bail in the Harris County Jail. He is set to appear in court Wednesday.
Deputies want to talk with Lyons’ cousin, Jerrett Jamal Allen, 26, who is charged with using Nguyen’s cards in El Paso in April.
The dating app Grindr was implicated in at least four home-invasion robberies in the Dallas area. Four young men face federal hate-crime and conspiracy charges in a series of incidents in which prosecutors said they used a fake profile on Grindr to get into the victims’ homes.
Grindr did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
‘Potential for danger’
An LGBT community leader in Houston echoed warnings from law enforcement about the dangers of using dating apps to meet up in person.
Kent Loftin, an executive with the nonprofit Montrose Center, said Monday that Grindr is especially popular for younger men, some of whom build their social networks mostly through the app.
“I think everyone knows when you’re meeting strangers through these apps that there is the potential for danger,” Loftin said. “But so many individuals in our community do use these every day, and we hear so little about crimes or being targeted. If we hear about men being targeted, that will really change the conversation.”
Ritchie, however, said Grindr’s privacy rules have made it difficult for investigators to determine if the victims and suspects connected through Grindr, some other dating site or a more general social media app such as Instagram.
And the detective wonders if other robbery victims may have avoided reporting the crime to police because they wanted to keep secret their use of the app.